Sep

30

To Bee or Not To Be

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Shot of the Month – September 2015

Bumblebee, Vermont (1684)

I have taken liberty with what is perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous line to highlight the plight of one of humanity’s oldest partners — da bee. A recent study indicates that humans have benefited from the bee’s labor for at least 8,000 years.  However, since 2006 or so bee populations have been crashing (Colony-Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the scientific lingo for it) around the planet and this beautiful relationship is in serious peril.

Why should we care?

Well, bees are expert pollinators and we rely on them to produce much of our food — some estimate that 1 in every 3 mouthfuls of the food you ate today was pollinated by a bee.  Of the 100 crops that provide about 90% of the food eaten in 146 countries, 71% are bee-pollinated. Did you know that the ENTIRE almond crop in the US relies on bees for pollination?  Me neither.

Without bees forget about apples, lemons, limes, carrots, celery, zucchini, oranges, blueberries, cherries, watermelons, grapefruit, lettuce, macadamia, cashew, coriander, cucumber, buckwheat, mango, avocado, apricot, peach, pear, raspberry, broccoli, onion…and many more. See a comprehensive list here.

Much of the pollinating is done by the Western Honey bee — a species that is commonly used by commercial beekeepers.  Typically a beekeeper will lose about 10-15% of his bees over the winter.  Since 2006 the loss rate has been around 30%.  In 2014-2015 about 42% of all honey bee colonies died off.

So what is causing all the deaths?  There is no single answer but most scientists believe the mass die-off is being caused by:

  1. Habitat Loss: Modern agriculture is characterized by massive fields with just one crop –  rarely can you find a range of flowers along fields where bees can forage.  These fields are like deserts for bees.
  2. Pesticides: Bees are very sensitive to pesticides and seem particularly sensitive to neonicotinoid pesticides.  Neonicotinoids were introduced in the mid-1990s and bee numbers began falling soon after.  Over 50,000 bumble bees (like the one I photographed here) died in Oregon in 2013 after a landscaping company sprayed nearby trees. Oregon banned the use of this insecticide in 2015.
  3. Parasites:  A microscopic mite, the Varroa destructor, surfaced in the US in 1987 and has since killed millions of bees.

How can you help?  A few ideas:

  1. Buy Organic:  Organic farms don’t use pesticides.
  2. Buy Local:  Support your local farms, especially local organic farms (see #1 above)
  3. Use less pesticides:  We use WAY too much pesticides.  Most pest problems can be solved without pesticides.
  4. Plant bee-friendly plants:  Start a garden and provide desperately needed food for the bees.  Here is some guidance on how to start.  And check out this fun tool.

And here is a good list of ideas on how to help.

A world without bees would be terribly unbeecoming and a lot less beeautiful, and dining would be a lot more boring (damn, no “ee’s” in boring, sigh).

Anyways, we really do need bees to be, so do what you can to help out.

Until next month….:-)

 

 

Nikon D5100, VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8, f/10, 1/250 sec, ISO 200

Aug

31

The Eyes Have It

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Shot of the Month – August 2015

American Bison, Yellowstone NP (6330)This month’s throwback pinup beauty is a gorgeous bison babe.  I don’t know about you, but I find myself getting lost in those big brown eyes (Yes, I realize it is a black and white photo — trust me on this one). That luscious nose.  And who wouldn’t want to run their fingers through that luxurious black hair?

No doubt about it, that is a half-ton of cuteness right there.  Bob the Bison would surely be humming Bob the Marley’s “Looking in your big brown eyes” as he sauntered by this bovine beauty.

The eyes come to life in this image because I was able to capture the elusive “catchlight.”  Catchlight is simply the reflection of the sun or light source in the subject’s eyes.  Catchlight adds depth and dimension to the eyes and makes the subject come alive.  Wildlife photographers obsess about this little dint of illumination – some feel that the foundation of a great wildlife image is catching a bit of ocular sparkle.

Without the glint the human brain seems to not respond as strongly to an image — we tend to see the photo as “lifeless.”  Sort of like the difference between looking at a photo of a stuffed toy bison and a picture of well, this Yellowstone beauty.  That extra twinkle can make an otherwise “flat” image seem to jump off the page…errr, screen.

The eye glint thing also works for people. So when taking a picture of friends and family, try to capture a bit of catchlight to make your evil ____ more loveable/likable/humanlike. (fill in the blank with the relative or friend of your choice).

The psychological power of catchlight is so strong that sometimes in movies the director will go in the other direction and remove the glint from the eyes of antagonistic characters in post-production to make them seem more evil or heartless.

As you can see, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder…..or is it the beholdee?  Now I’m confused…

Until next month…..michael

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikon D4s, Nikkor 600mm f/4G ED, 1.4x TC (@850mm), f/5.6, 1/750s, +0.5 EV, ISO 640

Aug

11

Moose “Hunting” with Michael

Trip Report  Posted by / 0 comments

Here is a short video on my photo trip to Maine last week:

 

Ruby-throated hummingbird (4983)
Jul

31

Ultralight Aviation…

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 0 comments

Shot of the Month – July 2015
Ruby-throated hummingbird, Vermont (4983)Hummingbirds are the tiny flying jewels of the New World — all 340 known species are distributed among North and South America and the Caribbean. Alas, this wealth is not shared equally.  In the eastern US (i.e., east of the Mississippi River) we only have one breeding species, the Ruby-throated hummingbird (RTH), as photographed here in our garden in Vermont.  The wealth is shared thusly:

Ecuador:             163 known species (the clear winner)

Columbia:          127 known species

Mexico:                50 known species

North America:   23 known species (most are found west of the Rocky Mountains and south of the US-Mexico border)

The wee birds can be found from southeastern Alaska and western Canada through the United States and Central America (including the Caribbean islands) down to Tierra del Fuego at the southernmost point of South America. The few species that do breed in the US and Canada migrate south to Mexico, Central America, West Indies, and southern Florida for the winter.

Here is a good map showing the distribution of the Ruby-throated hummingbird.

 

In the spring many RTHs pass through the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and fly across the Gulf of Mexico to reach Florida or Louisiana before continuing north. That is a 500-mile non-stop flight over water.

That is also, insane.

A bit of perspective.  A RTH weighs about 3 grams.  Put a US nickel in your hand — that is about 5 grams. (No, really, I mean it, go find a nickel and hold it.  I can wait…….Crazy, right?)

Before departure, the birds go on an eating binge and double their weight to 6 grams.  After completing the 20-22 hour, non-stop flight the bird may only weigh 2.5 grams!  Once on the mainland, the birds average about 20 miles per day as they continue north. (Source)

In the spring you can use this great map to follow the migration of the Ruby-throated hummingbird.

Until next month…..m

 

Fade to black as I sit here shaking my head trying to imagine a nickel (with wings, of course) flying 500 miles across open water….

 

Other Coin Weights for my International Readers:

UK Penny = 3.56 grams 
0.10 Euro coin = 4.10 grams 
0.05 Euro coin = 3.97 grams 
0.02 Euro coin = 3.0 grams 
Kenya 10 Shillings coin = 5 grams 
Kenya 5 Shillings coin = 3.4 grams 
1 Indian Rupee = 4.85 grams

 

Nikon D300s, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VRII (@ f/2.8, 300mm), 1/500 sec, ISO 400

Jun

30

Painted Turtle

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 1 comments

Shot of the Month – June 2015

Turtle-Painted-0267Let me tell you, getting a decent picture of a Painted Turtle is tough.  This is not to say that they are hard to find — they are by far the most commonly found turtle in North America.

They are the only turtle whose native range extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  These guys can be found in 45 US states and 8 of the 10 Canadian provinces.

As a photographer, the challenge is that the painted turtle is most commonly seen basking in the sun in the late morning.  This makes for terrible light and harsh reflections off this shiny creature.  Also, these turtles are very skittish so it is very hard to get close before they dive into the water.  The joys of nature photography ….grumble, grumble…

There are four regionally based sub-species of painted turtle (eastern, midland, southern, western), with each having slightly different color patterns and size.  I photographed this Midland Painted Turtle on a quiet pond in Vermont.  Check out the map below to see which type may live near you (Only for you New World types).

Painted turtles like fresh water so if you have visited a pond, lake, marsh, or creek in the US or Canada you most likely have seen one of these fellas.

This is one rock ‘n roll-looking turtle — note the KISS-themed red and yellow stripes on their neck, legs, and tail.  And that bad-ass black stripe on the yellow eye.  Did you notice the claws on this turtle?!  Wolverine has nothing on this guy.

All right, settle down.  Back to the science.  A few other painted turtle tidbits for you:

  1. Painted turtles can live up to 55 years in the wild. (they rarely do, but they can)
  2. Females are larger than males.  The extra size allows space for egg production.
  3. In the winter painted turtles hibernate in mud at the bottom of the body of water where they live.  They lower their metabolism so much that they do not need to breathe while in this state.  In northern climates, they may hibernate from October to March (Now, THAT is a good nap).  Turtles also sleep at the bottom of the water each night — during these periods they can absorb some oxygen through their skin.
  4. Painted turtles eat assorted plants (e.g. duckweed, algae, and water lilies) and also eat earthworms, insects, leeches, snails, crayfish, frogs, and carrion, to name a few delicacies.

    Painted Turtle (0955)

    Heat-Eat-Repeat

  5. As they are reptiles painted turtles cannot regulate their body heat.  To be active their body temperature has to be between 63-73 degrees F.  Each day they go through cycles of activity.  First, bask in the sun and build up energy.  Then go into the water and hunt for something to eat.  Being underwater cools them down, so, bask in the sun again.  Once warm, go search for food.  Cool off.  Bask in the sun.  Search for food.  You get the idea.
  6. Painted turtles are the “Official Reptile” of four states:  Vermont, Michigan, Illinois, and Colorado.  I didn’t even know that was a thing.

 

There you have it, the painted turtle — Mother Nature’s Rock ‘n Roll playing Marvel Comic Superhero who can be readily found chill’n at your local pond.  Until next month…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikon D300S, Nikon 200-400mm (@ 260 mm; effective 390mm), f/4, 1/2000 s, ISO 400; handheld from Kayak